Board of Directors

Our Board comprises experienced and talented people from scientific, chemical and industrial backgrounds

Dr Christopher Richards

Non-executive Chairman

Appointed

Chris was appointed Chairman of Nanoco Group plc in May 2016, having joined the Board as a Non-executive Director in November 2015.

Skills and experience

Following a successful international career in the agrochemical and life sciences industries, Chris has become a highly experienced non-executive director and business adviser. Chris is the former Chief Executive Officer of Arysta LifeScience, a Japan-based agrochemical business which grew rapidly under his leadership. After stepping down as CEO in 2010, he became Arysta LifeScience’s Non-executive Chairman until the sale of the business in 2015 to Platform Specialty Products.

After gaining his DPhil from the University of Oxford in Biological Science, Chris worked as a research scientist for four years. He began his executive career in 1983 in the Plant Protection division at Imperial Chemical Industries plc, which later became Syngenta. For 20 years, he has lived in various countries including Colombia and Japan and led international marketing and commercial functions.

Other roles

Chris currently holds a number of executive and non-executive roles at quoted and private businesses. He is the Interim CEO and Executive Chairman of Plant Health Care plc (AIM: PHC) and a Non-executive Director of Origin Enterprises plc (AIM: OGN).

Committees

● Nominations Committee ● Remuneration Committee

Dr Michael Edelman

Chief Executive Officer

Appointed

Nanoco has been led by Dr Michael Edelman since September 2004. Michael led the initial fundraising, spin out from the University of Manchester, floated the Group on the London Stock Exchange in 2009 and grew Nanoco into the world-leading quantum dot player it is today.

Skills and experience

Prior to Nanoco, Michael held a number of executive roles, including having responsibility for licensing the technology developed by GE/Bayer joint venture Exatec LLP, Vice President and Managing Director at yet2.com, Commercial Director at Colloids Ltd and Business Manager at Brunner Mond & Co Ltd.

Michael started his career with ICI and has a PhD in Organometallic Chemistry from the University of Sussex, UK, and an undergraduate degree in Classics and Chemistry from Tufts University, Boston, MA, USA.

Dr Nigel Pickett

Chief Technology Officer

Appointed

Nanoco’s technology team is led by Nigel, who is a co-founder of Nanoco and inventor of Nanoco’s key quantum dot scale-up technology. In 2000 he moved to Manchester where he co-founded Nanoco Technologies in 2001.

Skills and experience

Nigel has co-authored over 70 academic papers and is an inventor on 150 patents and pending applications. He has a passion and experience in taking research work from the academic bench through to full commercialisation. Nigel graduated from Newcastle University in 1991 and chose to remain at Newcastle to pursue a PhD in the field of Main Group Organometallics and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry. After graduation in 1994, he undertook a postdoctoral fellowship at St Andrews University, Scotland, in the field of precursor design for metalorganic vapour phase epitaxy (“MOVPE”) growth and synthesis of nanoparticles using chemical vapour deposition (“CVD”) techniques. In 1996 he won a Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (“JSPS”) fellowship and spent the following year working at Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, Japan. In 1998 he became a Research Fellow at Georgia Institute of Technology, US, working on the design and evaluation of precursors used in MOVPE.

Brian Tenner

Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer

Appointed

Brian leads the Group’s operations and supporting functional teams. Brian joined the Board as Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer on 20 August 2018. Brian also serves as the Company Secretary.

Skills and experience

Prior to joining Nanoco, Brian held a number of senior finance positions with both publicly listed and private multinational companies. His roles have typically focused on broad ranging operational finance with an emphasis on leading change and transformation programmes. Brian’s previous roles include Interim CEO and subsequently CFO of NCC (LSE: NCC) from 2017 to 2018 (cyber security professional services), CFO of Renold plc (LSE: RNO) from 2010 to 2016 (engineering manufacturing), Scapa plc (AIM: SCPA) from 2007 to 2010 (speciality chemicals) and British Nuclear Group (hi-tech chemicals and large-scale decommissioning projects) from 2003 to 2007. Brian qualified as a Chartered Accountant with PwC in 1994 and holds a Law degree (LLB Hons) from Edinburgh University.

Other roles

Brian is currently a Non-executive Director and Senior Independent Director of Velocity Composites plc (AIM: VEL), a leading supplier of advanced aerospace composite material kits. Brian serves as the chair of the audit committee at Velocity

Dr Alison Fielding

Non-executive Senior Independent Director

Appointed

Alison was appointed to the Board in April 2017.

Skills and experience

Alison holds an MBA from Manchester Business School, a PhD in Organic Chemistry and a first-class degree in Chemistry from the University of Glasgow and an MSc in Mindfulness from the University of Aberdeen.

Alison started her career at Zeneca PLC (now Astra Zeneca) followed by five years at McKinsey & Company and later co-founded Techtran Group Limited, which was acquired by IP Group in 2005, where she held the role of Director and COO until 2013. Whilst at IP Group, she also sat on the board of and advised several early stage and quoted IP Group-backed technology companies.

Other roles

Alison is Venture Partner at IP Group and is also currently a Non-executive Director of Getech Group plc and a Non-executive Director of Maven Income and Growth VCT PLC.

Committees

● Audit Committee ● Nominations Committee ● Remuneration Committee

Chris Batterham

Non-executive Director

Appointed

Chris Batterham was appointed to the Board in April 2019.

Skills and experience

Chris holds a Natural Sciences degree from Cambridge University. He then qualified as a Chartered Accountant with Arthur Andersen LLP in 1979 where he spent his early career.

Chris has considerable financial and operational experience and became the Finance Director of Unipalm Group plc, from 1996 to 2001. He then went on to become CFO of Searchspace Group Limited from 2001 until 2005. Chris then went on to hold a number of non-executive roles across a range of companies with a technology focus in many cases.

Other roles

Chris is currently a Non-executive Director of Blue Prism Group plc and NCC Group plc.

Committees

● Audit Committee ● Nominations Committee ● Remuneration Committee

Other Directors holding office during the year

All of the Directors who held office during the financial year and at the date of this report are listed above. In addition, David Blain (CFO and Company Secretary) resigned from the Board on 20 August 2018 and Brendan Cummins (Non-executive Director) stepped down from the Board on 19 April 2019.